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New law allows tenants to ban door-knock traders for two years says commissioner

By
Kalino Latu
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A new law in New Zealand makes it an offense if a salesperson refuses to leave a property when told to do so.

An uninvited seller who contacted a household through email or phone call could face a court order to cancel or vary a sales agreement, as well as compensation, the law says.

A door-knocker who breaches the ‘Do Not Knock’ sticker law will face hefty fines of up to $30,000.

Joseph Liava’a, the Associate Commissioner of the Commerce Commission, welcomed the law, saying it gave extra protection to buyers about the information salespeople had to give them.

Liava’a said the law gave customers time to change their mind about sales and what they should do if they decided to cancel the sale.

“The new rules mean residents can stop sale people from coming into their homes without being invited”, Liava’a told PMN.

The householders could use a sign or a ‘Do Not Knock’ sticker to tell salespeople not to enter their property.

People can put the signs on their front gate or their front door.

“It doesn’t have to be a fancy sign it can be simple handwritten sign it just has to be legible, readable and visible.  And it can say things like do not knock or no salespeople or something to that effect”.

“If you tell them not to come to your property that salesperson can’t return for two years, unless you invite them back,” Liava’a said.

He advised householders to make a note of the date that they ask the traders  to go.

“Write down the name of the business. Take a photo or video if that is possible,” he said.

Residents could also complain to the Commerce Commission if traders refused to leave, or ignored stickers, but Liava’a advised people to talk to the knockers first and see if they could resolve it.

“If that sticker is ignored give them a call: Hey, this is the situation we don’t think this is on,” Liava’a said.

Customers who want a Do Not Knock sticker can go to https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/do-not-knock/get-a-sticker

They can either order a free sticker to be sent to them or download a free downloadable printable copy

Consumer is  also distributing stickers to Citizens Advice Bureaux, Resene ColorShops and any store that sells Resene paints.

Member of reggae band Three Houses Down and businessman Sione Pome’e jailed on million tax evasion

By
Kaniva Staff
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An Auckland labour hire company director has been sentenced to 27 months in prison, with his company, now in liquidation, still owing more than $1.1 million in PAYE, KiwiSaver and student loan deductions.

Sione Na’aniumotu Pōme’e ran Pome’e Engineering Services, which provided workers to the building construction industry.

He was sentenced in the Manukau District Court on May 12 after earlier admitting 66 charges of evading or attempting to evade PAYE, student loan and KiwiSaver deductions.

Despite warnings and offers of help from Inland Revenue, Pōme’e continued offending over a seven year period. The court heard the magnitude of the offending was a significant breach of trust for the community in general and his employees in particular.

From November 2012 until March 2019 Pomee filed returns where he intentionally understated or didn’t disclose wages and bonus payments made to staff. The effect of that was to reduce the amount of PAYE his company owed to IR.

Instead of paying tax he chose to use the money to fund personal and lifestyle choices and admitted using company’ funds for significant personal spending.

About $1 million was transferred from the Company’s bank account to Pomee’s joint account with a relative and was used for overseas travel and spending; personal shopping including in high-end luxury retail stores; bonuses, various loans and gifts to himself; and more than $25,000.00 which was transferred to Jamaican Money Market for his nephew’s music career.

In relation to PAYE, the Company remains liable for a total amount of $1,148,756.99

The judge gave Pome’e a 5% discount in his sentence for his good work in Samoa and Tonga but no discount for remorse which she found was only in hindsight.

Three dead in two-car crash in Waikato

By
Kaniva Staff
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no caption

The crash occured on a stretch of SH29 south of Matamata, police said. Photo: Google Maps

Three people have died in a crash near Matamata this evening.

The crash involved two vehicles on State Highway 29 and happened at about 5.30pm.

The road is closed in both directions and expected to remain so for several hours.

Police said there were no other reported injuries.

Diversions are in place and drivers are asked to avoid the area.

The accident caps a deadly week in Waikato roads, including a crash that left two dead, including an ambulance driver and another killed in a separate crash.

Clendon Park case: Police arrest woman in South Korea

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By RNZ.co.nz

A woman has been arrested for the murder of two young children whose remains were discovered in suitcases in Manurewa, South Auckland on 11 August 2022.

Police investigators seen outside a Clendon property in South Auckland 

Police can now confirm that a 42-year-old woman has been arrested in South Korea.

Counties Manukau CIB detective inspector Tofilau Fa’ amanuia Vaaelua said South Korean authorities arrested the woman today on a Korean arrest warrant on two charges of murder relating to the two young victims.

The arrest warrant was issued by the Korean Courts as a result of a request by NZ Police for an arrest warrant under the extradition treaty between New Zealand and the Republic of Korea.

He said NZ police had applied to have her extradited back to New Zealand to face the charges and had requested she remain in custody while awaiting the completion of the extradition process.

“To have someone in custody overseas within such a short period of time has all been down to the assistance of the Korean authorities and the coordination by our NZ Police Interpol staff,” he said.

There were a number of enquiries to be completed both in New Zealand and overseas, he added.

Police said the children, believed to be aged between five and 10 years old, may have been hidden in the suitcases in an Auckland storage yard for several years.

The bodies were discovered after a Clendon Park family won an auction for abandoned goods in a storage unit, without realising what was inside.

Tonga Police bust suspected fake money operation, illicit drugs

By
Kaniva Staff
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Police interrupted and arrested two men for allegedly manufacturing counterfeit Tongan bank notes at their Popua home earlier today.

The two suspects also faced illicit drugs charges.

One accused allegedly spent some of the counterfeit notes at a local petrol station.

Police said they found what they believe to be forged  $50 notes in the accused’s possession.

Police also seized three photocopy machines used to produce counterfeit currency, and illicit drugs from a residence at Popua.

Police identified one of the suspects who used a fake $50 Pa’anga at a petrol station at Lapaha and intercepted his car on Taufa’āhau Road at Vainī on Monday afternoon,  September 5.

The second suspect was arrested earlier today following the execution of a search warrant at his residence at Popua.

Please contact Police on phone 922 / 0800-922 / 740-1660 if you have any information that may help police investigation or if you know of any fake currency that may be in circulation.

New film documents local version of Tongan ouau kava that honours tangata whenua

By
Kalino Latu
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A locally designed cultural practice that blends several Pacific islands cultural traditions to honour the Māori people can be watched in a new documentary film.

A still from the documentary Kava ‘O Aotearoa documentary produced by Maria Tanner and directed by Joshua Baker. 

Kava ‘O Aotearoa was designed as a new version of the Tongan ouau kava to be performed  at non-Tongan functions, ceremonies, celebration and services.

The architectures of the practice added to it the Samoan practice of chief orators who stand with their staff or to’oto’o (talking sticks), as well as the Cook Islands and Tahiti turou, a welcoming gesture by the hosts to guests at kava ceremonies. There were also other parts of cultural kava practices from Fiji and other Pacific island cultures which were added to the new ouau kava version.

The idea was initiated by three prominent Pasifika leaders in the community – Pakilau Manase Lua, who is of Tongan heritage and holding the heraldic name Pakilau ‘O Aotearoa, Christine Nurminen, the international portfolio manager for the Pacific region at Oxfam New Zealand and Therese Mangos, the director of Pacific Vision Aotearoa.

The first documentary to feature the Kava ‘O Aotearoa was released on Wednesday in Auckland.

It showed the formal Tongan kava ritual which included the cultural seatings, instructions and responses, preparations, distributions and receiving of the kava.

The film showed a man sitting at the tou’a or kava server’s place facing the taumu’a or forepart and pounding the kava on the black kava rock. It also showed two women wearing ta’ovala performing the roles of the angaikava.

The newly documented ritual was crafted as a gift by the moana Pasifika emigrants in New Zealand to the Māori people.

The producer of the documentary, Maria Tanner and the director, Joshua Baker, said the film was a milestone in their efforts to preserve and utilise the new practice.

Speaking to PMN Morning Show, Tanner said the film was like “an amazing kind of feeling.”

“It has been great because it is just started with something that is just a grain of sand. And then you just showered love and attention onto it and you watched it grow and you watch it gain momentum and watch all the achievements from these people that want to be a part of championing a story with you,” Tanner said.

She attributed the success of the film to many people who took part in its production.

Baker said it was not just about drinking kava,  but was “so much mana for Pasifika people.”

“I want people to be inspired to learn about their culture, especially when it comes to kava,” he said.

Pakilau o Aotearoa Manase Lua, Luau o Mana Moana Therese Mangos, Vakalahi o Mana Moana Christine Nurminen and others post ceremony at Ihumātao

“It was important to acknowledge the Māori as the Indigenous people of New Zealand, the tangata whenua, in the kava ceremony”.

The Kava ‘o Aotearoa ceremony is only held once a year.

In 2019, the first ceremony was held to support the Muslim community after the terror attack in Christchurch.

In 2020, it was held at Auckland Museum for the launch of the new Te Ao Mārama space, which houses the largest kava bowl in the world.

In 2021, the ceremony took place in the sea, as a climate-awareness exercise after the America’s Cup.

Tongan kava ceremonies

The Tongan kava ceremonies can be divided into two main categories. The informal kava drinking session and the formal kava session. The informal kava drinking session is mostly just for pleasure and there is lack of formality in it.

The formal kava session is the opposite and it must include the rituals of cultural seating, instructions and responses, preparations, distributions and receiving of the kava in the cups.   

The king’s formal and informal kava sessions are called Taumafa Kava. The chief’s or nobility’s kava sessions are called ‘ilo kava.

The commoners’ informal kava drinking session is called faikava while their formal kava session is called ouau kava or kava. The common phrases which are normally heard and they carry the names for the commoners formal kava are  –  ‘Oku fai hono kava or ‘Oku fai hono ouau kava – a kava ceremony is performed as part of his or her celebration.

Four-year-old boy shoots dead his seven-year-old brother in Tongatapu ‘tragic accident’

By
Kaniva Staff
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A four-year-old boy has allegedly shot dead his seven-year-old brother at their Ha’ateiho home.

Tonga Central Police station. Photo/Kalino Lātū

Police seized a .22 rifle and arrested their 40-year-old father for possession of unlicensed ammunition and firearms. 

Tonga Police responded to the shooting incident at the residence at around 6.20pm on Friday, September 2, 2022.

The seven-year-old boy was playing with his four-year-old brother in their family vehicle where they had found the .22 rifle.

When the four-year-old got hold of the gun, he allegedly fired four shots at his seven-year-old brother, which tragically caused his death.

The father had been charged with possession of unlicensed ammunition and other firearm related charges.

“We are reminding firearms licence holders to take their responsibility with safe storage of their firearms seriously. It was only in April last year that an 18-year-old male died from an accidental shooting, and now we have lost another young life in a similar situation that could have been avoided,” the Tongatapu Districts Commander, Chief Superintendent Filipe Fifita said.

Tonga Police is urging the public to help Tonga Police in keeping our communities safe and feel safe by notifying us and or surrendering any unlicensed firearm in their possession.

Death of Tongan priest and academic Fr Mikaele Pāunga is a loss to all of the Pacific

By
Philip Cass
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The death of Fr. Dr. Mikaele Niusenia ‘Oto’Ota Pāunga SM is a great loss to Tonga and the Pacific as a whole.

Professor Fr Mikaele Pāunga

Fr. Pāunga died in the Colonial War Memorial hospital in Suva, Fiji, yesterday morning (September 3).

He was 68.

A graduate of the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he gained a doctorate in theology, Fr Pāunga had taught at the Pacific Regional Seminary in Suva for 22 years.

In a post on its Facebook page, the seminary said Fr Pāunga would never be forgotten.

“Prayers and fond memories are what we have to remember our dearly departed. May the love of family and friends comfort you all during these difficult days, our most heartfelt condolences,” the post said.

Born in Vaipoa, Niuatoputapu, Tonga, Fr Pāunga was the youngest brother of Marist Fr Nisifolo ‘Oto’ota.

He was educated by the SMSM sisters in Vaipoa before entering ‘Apifo’ou College in Nuku’alofa, where he was taught  by the Marist fathers.

He finished his secondary education in New South Wales where he attended Belambi High School.

He entered the Novitiate in Tutu, Taveuni and was professed in the Society of Mary at the beginning of 1980.

He studied for a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Gregorian, graduating in 1985. This was the start of a lifetime of lecturing, beginning with the Holy Spirit seminary in Bomana in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.

He was parish priest of St Anthony of Padua Basilica in Nuku’alofa from 1991-1992.

He then returned to the Gregorian, graduating with a doctorate in Sacred Theology in 1999.

The following year he joined the Pacific Regional Seminary where he taught Dogmatic, Systematic and Contextual Theology, Anthropology, world Religions and Modern Social Issues.

He was also Dean of Studies for five years.

Dr. Pāunga was a regular contributor to academic journals and collections, covering a range of topics including globalisation, culture, justice and development, human rights and the social mission of the church.

Calls for Tongan Prime Minister to allow teaching of Niuafo‘ouan language in schools

By
Kalino Latu
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​Campaigners for the Niuafo’ouan language want it to be part of the Tongan curriculum.  

The jetty on Niuafo’ou, which is regarded as one of the most isolated islands in the world. Photo/Maxim Chervyakov

They are accusing the Ministry of Education of destroying the language because of its failure to teach it in schools. 

They are also accusing modern Niuafo’ouans of being embarrassed to speak the language. 

The promoters have called on the Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni ​to allow the language in the curriculum. 

They were optimistic about their chances, saying Hu’akavameiliku was Niuafo’ouan through his mother’s side. 

The language of Niuafo’ou, which is regarded as one of the most isolated islands in the world, is dying out, with fewer than a thousand speakers.

Calls for Tongan Prime Minister to allow teaching of Niuafo‘ouan language in schools

​Tongan Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni.​

Located in the north of the kingdom, it is the furthest island from the mainland, Tongatapu.

Hawai’ian anthropologist Thomas S. Dye, who visited the island in 1970s to research the language, said it could only be understood by Tongans if spoken slowly. 

Dye said there was pressure from the Tongan government at that time to teach the Niuafo’ouan children to speak Tongan at school and disregard their own mother tongue. 

Speaking of the language is identified with the Tongan words kote or kotekote or kote faka-Niua. 

It was described as being the same as speaking a foreign language in a way that was fast with an exotic vocal variation which most Tongan speakers found out of the ordinary. The situation led to the language being stigmatised as a laughing stock.

Dr Akihisa Tsukamoto, who was in Niuafo’ou in the 1980s and researched the language, wrote some Niuafo’ouan sentences in his dissertation and translated them into English as follows: 

Niuafo’ouan: Kuo te tamai ‘ia Sione

Tongan: Ko e tamai ‘a Sione

English: Sione is a father.

Niuafo’ouan: Kua tamai ‘ia Sione he kua fā’ele tono mali

Tongan: Ko e tamai ‘a Sione he kuo fā’ele hono mali’

English: Sione is a father because his wife has had a baby. 

Tsukamoto said the Niuafo’ouan language closely resembled ‘Uvean and Tongan. 

He said they had a very similar grammar and shared much vocabulary. 

“There are mutually intelligible with one another to a considerable extent unless spoken very fast,” he said.

Mākisi Fīnau, a former senior government officer in Tonga told PMN Tonga that he assisted and accompanied  Tsukamoto while he did his research in  Niuafo’ou.

He said Tsukamoto did a great job to preserve the language. 

Mākisi said the Niuafo’ou language was “beautiful,” but it was “hugely destroyed by the Ministry of Education”.

He said he once raised it in Parliament while working there, with the Late Hu’akavameiliku Senior, the father of Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku, who was the Minister of Education at the time. 

“I told Hu’akavameiliku his Ministry of Education badly damaged the Niuafo’ouan language,” Mākisi said. 

He said he told Hu’akavameiliku Snr that his teachers taught spelling to the children in Tongans while the children responded in the Niuafo’ouan language. 

Mākisi gave an example: 

The teacher asked the children to spell the pronoun kimoua in Tongan, but the children responded with the Niuafo’ouan equivalent of the word, which is kolua.

Mākisi implied that the children in this way were forced by the teachers to learn Tongan, according to the syllabus and disregard the Niuafo’ouan language. 

Mākisi said Niuafo’ouans these days were ashamed to speak the language and this had contributed largely to the shrinking number of speakers 

Makisi’s co-guest on PMN Tonga, Feletiliki Fīnau, agreed and said it was about time for the government to include the Niuafo’ouan language in the curriculum. 

“I wish the Prime Minister could hear us. His mother was a Niuafo’ouan”, Feletiliki said.

He said if the language could not be included in the syllabus there was no way that it could be preserved. 

He also said they were campaigning in New Zealand to preserve the language and have their radio programme broadcast in  Niuafo’ouan. 

There have been academic moves to teach the language. In 2019 the University of the South Pacific’s (USP) Tonga Campus and Institute of Education launched a Bachelor of Arts programme in Pacific Vernacular language in Tongan and Niuafo’ouan.

Fonualei recent volcanic activities spark fears of possible eruptions, tsunami that could affect the whole of Vava‘u

By
Kalino Latu
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Geologists in Tonga are monitoring the Fonualei volcano closely for signs of a major eruption.

Fonualei Volcano emits sulphuric gases. Photo/ Ministry of Natural Resources

They said there was evidence of an ongoing volcanic eruptions at Fonualei since 1791.

They said the eruptions spewed ash and rocks 3km into the air.

Evidence showed the eruptions in the past were not sufficient to cause widespread damages, they said.

While the authority has issued no tsunami or volcanic alert, they said a possible tsunami and ashes from Fonualei could reach Vava’u’s other islands.

They said people should stay vigilant.

In Tongan it said: “Ka ‘oku mahu’inga pe ke mateuteu ‘e malava pe ke a’u mai ‘a e efu mo’unga afi, mo ha peaukula ki he ‘otumotu ‘o Vava’u”.

The warning came after a marine biologist and a team who were researching and mapping the marine life and reefs in the north of Vava’u, took photos of  Fonualei last week.

One of the photos showed the water surrounding the island appeared to have changed its colour into brownish yellow.

The authority described the photo as being taken from the northwest of Fonualei and it showed sulphuric gases being emitted from the volcano.

Stone was reported by the authority as saying there was a rotten egg smell in the area, a smell which normally associated with sulphur deposits.

Fonualei volcano

Fonualei is the peak of an active volcano which rises 1000m from the seafloor. It is about 350km from Nuku’alofa and 78km from Vava’u’s capital Neiafu

It has a diameter of two kilometres and a maximum height of 188m.

Fonualei is the northernmost island of Vava’u

The coast is surrounded by cliffs, with only two beaches suitable for a landing.

The western, southern, and north-eastern sides have narrow fringing reefs.

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai

The Fonualei activities came after the devastating eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai 304km away on 15 January.

It triggered a tidal wave which caused devastation in Tonga and killed people as far away as South America. The atmospheric shockwave caused by the eruption was felt as far away as the UK.

It produced Earth’s biggest atmospheric explosion in over a century.

The caldera of Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha’apai is now 4km (2.5 miles) wide and drops to a base 850m below sea level.

Before the catastrophic eruption, the base was at a depth of about 150m.

It drives home the scale of the volume of material ejected by the volcano – at least 6.5 cubic km of ash and rock.

“If all of Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga, was scraped to sea level, it would fill only two-thirds of the caldera,” Prof Shane Cronin from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, said.

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